The social entrepreneur and restaurateur shares his favorite recipes for bringing friends and family together.
Quick—now’s the time to make Kimbal Musk’s favorite recipe. It’s a sweet-and-savory salad that tosses sliced peaches with fresh basil, chunks of Parmesan, and a simple lemon and olive oil dressing. “It is phenomenal in July—and then it’s just not a recipe that matters the rest of the year,” he told American Essence. In-season peaches, at their sweetest, juiciest peak in summer, are key to the dish.
That seasonal ethos is the foundation of Mr. Musk’s cooking, and what drives the menu at The Kitchen, the collection of farm-to-table restaurants he co-founded with chef Hugo Matheson 20 years ago. In March 2024, Mr. Musk published “The Kitchen Cookbook: Cooking for Your Community” to celebrate the anniversary. He hopes it will bring some of his restaurants’ spirit to home cooks.
“The whole mission of the book is to [encourage you to] cook for your community, and cook with your friends and family,” Mr. Musk said. After all, he writes, “breaking bread with your family and friends is a cornerstone of a good life.”
4 Questions for Kimbal Musk
As told to Chris LawsonComfort food? Roast chicken. It was the first thing I ever cooked as a kid. I went to a butcher—I was 11 years old—and the guy said, “Take this chicken, put it in a hot oven for one hour.” I just put it on [the] max [temperature]. It came out well, and I think that it had a lot to do with my passion for food, because that first experience was such a positive one.
Most valuable kitchen tool? A silicone spatula. It has a firmness to it but it’s silicone, so it works way better than a wooden spoon. The other one is tongs. A good pair of tongs and a spatula, and you’re off to the races.
Favorite family food tradition? A whole roast prime rib. You pour Yorkshire pudding batter around the beef at the end, and it cooks and wraps the prime rib. It’s quite a fun dish to do for your friends and family because the presentation is so, so cool.
Back-pocket dinner party icebreakers? “What’s your middle name?”—there’s not always a story, but there’s usually something—“What’s your favorite thing you’ve done recently?” and “What are you looking forward to?”
This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
